TARPON FISHING 



island to Cienfuegos on the south and have 

 tried most of the rivers that looked prom- 

 ising for sport. I have always fished there 

 in the month of February, and have never 

 failed to find tarpon. In four winters, dur- 

 ing a few days' fishing each season, I have 

 played almost two hundred tarpon. I say 

 "played," as I never kill a tarpon unless 

 he is hooked in such a manner that he can- 

 not be set free. I believe that it takes many 

 years for them to grow to maturity, and it 

 seems wicked to destroy such game fish. 

 The natives in Cuba are glad to have them, 

 as they eat them fresh and salted. 



The fishing in Cuba in winter is charm- 

 ing, the climate being perfect, with no flies 

 or insects of any kind; but the trip there 

 and back for a small vessel is not easily to 

 be forgotten. With a northerly wind — and 

 it always seems to blow from that quarter — 

 the Gulf Stream is the roughest bit of water 

 that I have ever navigated, and the run 

 across from Justias Key to Key West is a 

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